unity-design team mailing list archive

[Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx>]

By people, I mean "Human Beings" of all levels of computer literacy and
backgrounds, which is precisely Ubuntu's target demographic.

The point I was trying to make is that there was a time that people were
unfamiliar with the idea of a shopping bag icon being used to represent a
place to get both paid and free apps. At one point, everyone had to learn to
use their Android phone. The metaphor worked in this case, so I believe that
it would work in this case as well. It's not copying a successful model,
it's taking something that users are either A) familiar with or B) will pick
up on quickly.

On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 23:28, gespertino@xxxxxxxxx <gespertino@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> First: who is "people"? You need to define an audience.
> Do you assume that newcomers are people who come from Android phones
> to a desktop OS?
> If Ubuntu's audience is computer literate people with smartphones and
> previous experience with appstores that use a shopping bag as an icon,
> then great. We're all set.
>
> But if your audience is regular people from any part of the globe,
> coming from windows (where they're trying to sell you programs all the
> time you have to surf the web for freebies), then things are
> different.
> As far as I can remember Ubuntu motto is "linux for human beings" and
> the CD envelopes used to have a nice multi-racial circle of friends,
> aiming to be inclusive and bring this operating system to anyone.
> And if you ask me, the shopping bag icon isn't that.
> If the audience is people who own a smartphone, then you're leaving
> most of the humanity out of the frame.
> Think what does a shopping bag mean to a third world country and
> probably you'll get what I mean.
> Forget the shopping bag became an icon for "acquiring goods". A
> shopping bag is a shopping bag. If in this part of the world that icon
> is familiar it's because we're used to buy things instead of just
> getting them.
>
> Using the same shopping bag used by Android and Microsoft, Ubuntu only
> shows it can't go beyond copying a "successful" model. It's not
> original, it's not completely pertinent and it even doesn't look good
> when it is reduced.
>
>
> 2011/9/6 Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx>:
> > I don't think people necessarily associate shopping bags with paid apps.
> > People using Android (Which uses a bag as it's icon) tend to get more
> free
> > apps than paid ones. They still use the Market icon, which looks like a
> > shopping bag. I very rarely see any Android users opening up the browser
> to
> > go to the internet and look for some free .apks.
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 18:40, gespertino@xxxxxxxxx <gespertino@xxxxxxxxx
> >
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> 2011/9/6 Eylem Koca <eylemkoca@xxxxxxxxx>:
> >> > How about putting the U with the downward arrow
> >> > (http://ubuntuone.com/30SgZIkoCLbxKWGhS2CUpY) on the side of the bag?
> >>
> >> Don't. Please.
> >> I pointed an alternative to show that it is possible to come up with
> >> something different than a shopping bag in a simple, readable manner.
> >> Stuffing this simpler idea on an already cluttered icon with serious
> >> problems in small sizes won't help.
> >> If the meaning of the bag alone isn't enough to communicate the idea,
> >> then it's not matter of adding elements to the bag, but to think a
> >> difference alternative.
> >> Remember that an icon needs to be as clear as possible to communicate
> >> its function in different sizes. Simplicity favours that.
> >> I'm so against the bag icon not because I think commerce is bad. I'm
> >> against it because shopping apps ISN'T the primary function of our
> >> software centre.
> >> Other appstores have a strong commercial presence with several
> >> freebies. Our "store" is quite different: we have lots of free
> >> applications and very few commercial ones.
> >> This can change in the future, of course, but in the meantime, the
> >> icon communicate "enter here to buy applications" when it's not the
> >> case.
> >> Without an explaination, people could dismiss that icon thinking "I
> >> don't want to buy applications, I'll go to the internet and see where
> >> I can get some free .exes" :-p
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Ian Santopietro
> >
> > Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> > See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
> >
> > "Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast
> >  Ofer middangeard monnum sended"
> >
> > Pa gur yv y porthaur?
> > Public GPG key
> > (RSA):
> http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234
> >
>



-- 
Ian Santopietro

*Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html*

"Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast
 Ofer middangeard monnum sended"

Pa gur yv y porthaur?

Public GPG key (RSA):
http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234